While a digital broadcast receiver receives a broadcast signal of a physical channel, if it moves from a receivable area of the physical channel to an unreceivable area of the physical channel, it becomes unable to receive the broadcast signal of the physical channel, which had been received normally. Thus, a conventional digital broadcast receiver is configured so that a user manually operates the digital broadcast receiver to perform a channel scan to detect physical channels receivable at the current position, and selects, from among the physical channels, a physical channel providing the same program as the currently viewed program.
However, it is troublesome for the user to be required to perform such manual operation, and it is not always possible to start such operation immediately when the broadcast signal becomes unreceivable. Thus, the conventional digital broadcast receiver is inconvenient for the user.
Patent Document 1 discloses a digital broadcast receiver that does not require the above-described manual operation and has a function of automatically selecting a broadcast signal. The digital broadcast receiver includes a channel scan controller that, in a channel scan in which a first tuner/demodulator performs channel selection for program viewing and a second tuner/demodulator sequentially selects physical channels, detects physical channels receivable by the second tuner/demodulator, and a broadcast area map generator that generates a broadcast area map including a receivable physical channel, broadcast service information regarding broadcast content of the physical channel, and a current position. The digital broadcast receiver can generate a broadcast area map indicating a receivable area of each physical channel, and automatically switch to another physical channel receivable at the current position.